Paul R.Barstow was a friend of ours

Uxbridge--Paul Rogers Barstow, 79, of Uxbridge, died peacefully Thursday, Nov. 18, 2004 at the Milford Regional Medical Center, surrounded by family.

He was the husband of the late Eleanor Rubsam Barstow, whom he married in 1953.

Mr. Barstow was director of theatre and chairman of the Department of Theatre Studies at Wellesley College, where he worked for nearly 40 years until 1994. After retirement, he acted and directed with local theatre companies and continued traveling. He and his black lab, Bella, moved to Uxbridge several years ago.

Born in Hartford, Conn., he graduated from Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. He served in Europe in General George S. Patton's Third Army in the 65th Infantry Division.

In 1945, he was awarded the Third Army scholarship to Oxford University. Returning to Massachusetts, he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1948 from Williams College with his bachelor's degree in English, winning the Schumway Prize for distinguised work in English literature. He was an instructor at Williams College, and while continuing his graduate education, he was on the stall of Educational Testing Service in Princeton, N.J. In 1955, he earned an MFA degree in directing from Yale School of Drama.

Mr. Barstow began teaching at Wellesley College in 1955. He created the theater studies program at Wellesley, gradually adding courses over the years.

He was a member of Actors Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Association for Asian Performance, and served three terms as president of the New England Theatre Conference.

He was active in many community theaters including Vokes Theatre in Wayland for 40 years. In the '60s and '70s, he directed and acted with his own theatrical company, Roundabout Repertory, and performed with Newton Repertory Thetare, Masque Theatre of Milford and the Pickwick Players fo Uxbridge.

In the summer of 1979, he was visiting professor at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand, and on sabbatical in 1987, he traveled twice around the world.

He leaves his daughters, Victoria Barstow  with whom he lived in Uxbridge, Bobyn Chase and her husband John of Marlborough and his son, Tony Barstow and his wife, Jo, of California; his brother, Robbins Barstow and his wife, Margaret, of Wethersfield, Conn., and their children and spouses, Dan and Eva Barstow of Stow, David and Linda Barstow of Austin, Texas, and Cedar Barstow of Boulder, Colo.; his sister-in-law, Eleanor Barstow of Florida; his niece, Joy Ann and her husband and children of Texas; and his extended family of friends throughout the world.